Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Review

Best $10 you've ever spent on a video game

Step Up Your Game Scott

Due to the release of the Hollywood movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the original graphic novel series of which it blossomed has transferred from cult classic to a widely known franchise. The Scott Pilgrim series revolves around a 23 year old Canadian hipster named Scott Pilgrim who lives with his homosexual room mate Wallace Wells. Near the beginning of the first book, Scott falls in love with an American delivery girl named Ramona Flowers and soon learns that to be with her he must defeat her seven evil exes.

Typically, a video game spawned from a blockbuster movie tends to lack quality due to its main function being to exploit hype and convince gamers to part with even more of their money. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game stands to be one of the exceptions to this rule. Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game puts the player into the shoes of Scott as he battles through seven unique worlds each ending with a stand off against one of Ramona’s evil exes. This does not have to be a solo experience as up to three friends can join you and play as Ramona, Stephan Stills or Kim Pine.

Seven Deadly Exes

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game is a 4 player co-op beat-’em-up that is not only a great addition to any Scott Pilgrim fan’s collection, but also a great game overall. While the movie was as loyal as it could be within its runtime, the game steps in to provide a more in depth and faithful adaptation of the comic books. The game follows the evil exes story arc, cutting out most parts of the books that did not include Scott kicking some ass. The game also adds sections that were not included in the books such as the need to fight your way through waves of ninjas and zombies. However, this is pulled off in such a great way that is truly faithful to the Scott Pilgrim style that you barely notice it.

The game has seven unique zones that you can travel to from the game’s world map, which holds a striking resemblance to the world map seen in many Mario games. Each zone revolves around the eventual defeat of a different one of Ramona’s exes. However, one of the zones pits you against ‘Nega-Scott’ since you fight two of the exes in a single stage as they are twins. Each zone is split up into three stages in which you fight against a range of different enemy types. These range from super quick emo kids to fire breathing stuntmen dressed as green dinosaurs.

The game has been said by many to seem like an unsanctioned sequel to the classic beat-’em-up River City Ransom. This is justified considering a lot of its gameplay aspects are borrowed from the title. This includes RPG-esque stat building, in-game shops and the ability to use practically anything as a melee or thrown weapon. The similarities to those older side scrollers does not stop there though. The entire game is elegantly crafted with sprite-based graphics that, while giving it a distinct retro feel, also add to the overall experience immensely. Not only that but the game’s soundtrack, written and recorded by the chiptune punk band Anamanaguchi, provides an amazing soundtrack reminiscent of the old 8 bit Pokemon game music.

If Your Life Had A Face, I Would Punch It

Combat is kept simple, with a mere four buttons being used for different attacks. Two of the four buttons consist of the usual weak but fast attack, and the strong but slow attack. The other two attack buttons result in a character-specific special attack. These are quick and damaging, knocking back all the enemies in their area of effect.